Adventure Excursions unlimited Generally married High income health conscious individuals. Young, active trustafarians Income over $75,000 Typically professionals Health conscious individuals Behavior Factors Spends a large amount of the disposable income that they have Have a love of adventures 2.1.2 Market needs AEU is providing its customers with a wide selection of hard adventure trips for wealthy clients Virtually all companies that provide hard"adventure activities appeal to a lower income client. Companies that appeal to a wealthier clientele generally provide soft"adventure packages. Hard adventure activities involve difficult physical requirements. They carry a higher level of risk than do soft"activities. Soft adventure activities may involve some physical exertion, however they involve a low level of risk and can be engaged in by non-athletic people. AEU seeks to fulfill the following benefits that are important to their customers Selection: A wide selection of different hard adventure trips Accessibility: The customer can be located anywhere as long as they have access to an airport Customer attention: The patron will be impressed with the level of personal attention that they receive Competitive prices: Although AEU is priced at the top of the market providing a luxury service with prestige value, AEU will be priced competitively with the few other high-end service providers 2.1.3 Market Trends The travel industry is in an upward growth mode. There are several reasons for this increase First, a relative healthy domestic economy over the last several years and the devaluation of currency in other regions has made travel less expensive for U. s. residents. Pleasure travel has increased by 3.2% in 1999 and is predicted to grow 2.0% in 2000. Second, the healthy economy has increased business which in turn boosted domestic business travel 4.8%/ in 1999 with an estimated increase of 3. 6 in 2000 Adventure travel is a growing segment of the travel industry. One theory of the recent increase in extreme sports has to do with the strong competitive nature of younger Americans. Statistics show that 8, 000 U.S. companies offer adventure packages that generated $7 billion in 1999 There also has been a 66% increase in executive participation between 1996 and 2000 (or an increase of 3, 000 to 5,000)(La Franco, Robert Forbes, Feb 9, 2000 v161 n3 p168(3)) Quick facts Adventure Travelers: More than 50% of the U.s. adult traveling population or 147 million people, have taken an adventure trip in their lifetime 98 million in the past five years. 31 million adults have engaged in hard adventure activities like white water rafting scuba diving and mountain biking. An additional 25 million engaged in both a hard and soft adventure activity Six-percent of those who participated in adventure trips spent more than $2, 500 Page 3• Ages 25-50. • Generally married. • High income health conscious individuals. • Young, active, "trustafarians." • Income over $75,000. • Typically professionals. • Health conscious individuals. Behavior Factors • Spends a large amount of the disposable income that they have. • Have a love of adventures. 2.1.2 Market Needs AEU is providing its customers with a wide selection of hard adventure trips for wealthy clients. Virtually all companies that provide “hard” adventure activities appeal to a lower income client. Companies that appeal to a wealthier clientele generally provide “soft” adventure packages. Hard adventure activities involve difficult physical requirements. They carry a higher level of risk than do “soft” activities. Soft adventure activities may involve some physical exertion, however they involve a low level of risk and can be engaged in by non-athletic people. AEU seeks to fulfill the following benefits that are important to their customers. • Selection: A wide selection of different hard adventure trips. • Accessibility: The customer can be located anywhere as long as they have access to an airport. • Customer attention: The patron will be impressed with the level of personal attention that they receive. • Competitive prices: Although AEU is priced at the top of the market, providing a luxury service with prestige value, AEU will be priced competitively with the few other high-end service providers. 2.1.3 Market Trends The travel industry is in an upward growth mode. There are several reasons for this increase. First, a relative healthy domestic economy over the last several years and the devaluation of currency in other regions has made travel less expensive for U.S. residents. Pleasure travel has increased by 3.2% in 1999 and is predicted to grow 2.0% in 2000. Second, the healthy economy has increased business which in turn boosted domestic business travel 4.8% in 1999 with an estimated increase of 3.6% in 2000. Adventure travel is a growing segment of the travel industry. One theory of the recent increase in extreme sports has to do with the strong competitive nature of younger Americans. Statistics show that 8,000 U.S. companies offer adventure packages that generated $7 billion in 1999. There also has been a 66% increase in executive participation between 1996 and 2000 (or an increase of 3,000 to 5,000)(La Franco, Robert. Forbes, Feb 9, 2000 v161 n3 p168(3)). Quick facts: • Adventure Travelers: More than 50% of the U.S. adult traveling population, or 147 million people, have taken an adventure trip in their lifetime, 98 million in the past five years. 31 million adults have engaged in hard adventure activities like white water rafting, scuba diving and mountain biking. An additional 25 million engaged in both a hard and soft adventure activity. Six-percent of those who participated in adventure trips spent more than $2,500. Adventure Excursions Unlimited Page 3